When bread makers first showed up back people thought all you could make in them was plain white bread. That has never been true. The problem has always been how to make homemade bread in breadmaker, not can you. As they have become more popular, there are an increasing number of fantastic recipes available for all kinds of bread. What you will find is that the ingredients you use in a bread machine will be a little different than if you were baking bread normally. The results are just as good however.
Here are a few common questions about making bread with a bread machine.
1. Why are bread machines useful?
A. To put it simply, they make mixing and baking home-made bread a snap! You can set it up to make your favourite bread recipe and then go off and do something else (like laundry, housecleaning, relaxing, gardening etc.)
2. Are bread machines good for large families?
A. This depends on your family and how much bread you eat. A large family may go through a loaf a meal, others may use less. Baking multiple loaves a day does take extra time. However if you're set on home baked bread then it really isn't that much trouble to set up a batch to bake at night, and then another in early afternoon. Once you get into a routine it really isn't that hard.
3. Do whole grain breads work well?
A. No question about it, you can. Breadmakers require that you mix the ingredients slightly differently than if you were making the bread by hand. When you use whole grains you may need to alter your recipes slightly to make sure that everything mixes and soaks properly. In most cases you can simply follow a recipe designed for whole grains.
4. What is the normal order of ingredients?
A. With most bread machines the "wet" ingredients (milk, eggs, molasses, oil, etc.) go at the bottom of the bread pan. These are followed by the flour and other dry ingredients. Finally the yeast goes on top of everything else. You need to keep the yeast dry so it doesn't start to work too soon. Then simply set your bread maker to the proper kneading and baking cycles and everything take care of itself.